Azhar Ali Biography

It was Pakistan’s domestic season of 2002-03 that Azhar Ali took four wickets against Peshawar with his leg-spin. Not many then would have expected him to become the lynchpin of Pakistan’s Test batting line-up in the future.

It was in 2010, under overcast conditions at Lord’s that Azhar finally make his Test debut against Australia. He didn’t exactly take the world apart with scores of 16 and 42, but unlike some of his colleagues, Azhar showed that ‘never say die spirit’ to battle seaming conditions.

Despite a front on stance that resembled former Pakistan’s middle-order batsman Ijaz Ahmed, he has gone on to do well for Pakistan in Tests. Azhar has had his fair of share of critics who believe he struggles to convert starts into big scores. However, he has already aggregated five Test hundreds.

In 2012, Azhar showcased his ability to play well on a turning track at Dubai by compiling a century against England’s spin twins; Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann. In 2014 he went one step further when he anchored Pakistan’s innings to help them to script a memorable victory against Sri Lanka at Sharjah. However, he has only played a handful of One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for Pakistan, as he isn’t known as a quick scorer.